Olearia.] i © COMPOSITAE. 927 
Var. elliptica 7’. Kirk 1.c.—Leaves narrower, linear-oblong or elliptic-oblong. 
North anp Sour Istanps: From the East Cape southwards to Oamaru and 
Greymouth; often local, usually near the coast. Sea-level to 1500 ft. Akiraho. 
April-May. 
The heads never contain more than one floret, which is invariably tubular and 
hermaphrodite. On account of the constancy of this character Mr. Kirk has proposed 
to revive Forster’s genus Shawia, but, I think, quite unnecessarily. In O. avicenniae- 
folia the florets are sometimes reduced to 2, and occasionally there is no ray-floret, thus 
‘absolutely bridging over the gap between O. paniculata and the remaining Oleariae. 
34. O. coriacea 7. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 290.—A sparingly branched 
shrub 6-10 ft. high; branches stout, rigid, woody, often tortuous, naked 
below, densely leafy above, erect or spreading, more or less clothed with 
rough brown pubescence. Leaves alternate, shortly petiolate, 2—31n. 
long, 4-4 in. broad, excessively thick and coriaceous, ovate or orbicular- 
ovate, obtuse, glabrous and reticulated above, beneath clothed with thick 
and dense brownish-white granular tomentum; margins recurved, some- 
times so much so that the leaf becomes saddle-shaped. Corymbs axillary 
from the sides of the branches, 1-1} in. long, sparingly branched. Heads 
lin. long, shortly pedicelled; involucral scales in several series, laxly 
imbricating, thinly pubescent; outer short and broad; inner longer and 
narrower, oblong, obtuse; margins lacerate. Florets solitary and tubular 
in all the heads examined; corolla-tube white and tomentose. Achenes — 
oblong, more or less clothed with white tomentum.—Cheesem. Man. N.Z. 
Fl. (1906) 290. 
Soutu Isnanp: Marlborough—Awatere Valley, 7. Kirk! Mount Fyffe, 7. Kirk / 
Cockayne! H. J. Matthews! Ure Valley, B. C. Aston! Nelson—Jack’s Pass, Hanmer, 
C. H. Christensen. March-April. 
A very distinct species. Owing to the absence of flowering specimens its exact 
position in the genus remained uncertain for many years. The discovery of such by 
Mr. B. C. Aston has unexpectedly proved that the affinities of the plant are with 
O. paniculata (O. Forstert Hook. f.), with which it agrees in the heads never having 
moré than a single floret, which is invariably tubular and hermaphrodite. It has been 
suggested that such a discovery gives additional support to Kirk’s action in re-establish- 
ing Forster’s genus Shawia. But most botanists now discountenance the setting-up 
of genera depending solely upon a slight reduction in the numbers of a particular 
character. 3 
35. O. fragrantissima Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxii (1891) 398.— 
An erect much-branched shrub 6-15 ft. high or more; bark dark red- 
brown or almost black; branches rigid, flexuous or zigzag, finely grooved. 
Leaves distant, alternate, 3-14 in. long, elliptic-lanceolate to elliptic-oblong 
or -ovate, acute, narrowed into a rather slender petiole, membranous, 
glabrous above, clothed with rather lax silky tomentum beneath ; margins 
flat, quite entire. Inflorescence of alternate sessile glomerules }—# in. 
diam., each containing 8-12 nearly sessile heads $1in. long, each head with 
a woolly bract at its base. Involucral bracts in 2 or 3 series, oblong, 
obtuse, densely woolly. Florets 4-8, yellowish; ray-florets 2-5, short 
and broad. Achenes grooved, silky.—T. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 274 ; 
Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 292. a 
SoutH IstanD: Canterbury—Lake Forsyth, 7’. Kirk / various other localities on 
Banks Peninsula, R. M. Laing, Cockayne. Otago—Otago Heads, Buchanan / Petrie / 
near Dunedin, Petrie / Thomson ! H. J. Matthews ! Catlin’s River, Petrie! Southland— 
Otautau, Cockayne. November—December. 
_ A very distinct species, remarkable for the heads being congested into globose 
fascicles or glomerules. The flowers are deliciously fragrant, smelling like ripe peaches. 
O. Serperctna Sinf Taaus 7S > Zoo 
a IT! Birfeh w 
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